Sara's Story

Sara, a mum of two from South-West Essex was working as a teaching assistant when, in 2020, she decided to take a career break to look after her dad, who was unfortunately living with prostate cancer.

This wasn’t the first time Sara had stepped up to care for a family member, and she had been pondering a career in care her whole life. She said: “My dad begged me for years to change jobs, he said you’re in the wrong career, you’ve always been so caring and looked after all of us”.

With her dad’s encouragement, Sara searched for jobs in care and came across an advertisement for ECL’s Community Care Assistant role. She said: “I went for the interview; never thought in a million years I was ever going to get it. They called me back and offered me the job that same day and it's literally been the best thing ever.

“I wasn't sure if I wanted to go into more palliative domiciliary work or whether I wanted to go into reablement. Now I think reablement is the way forward, especially if you’re starting out your career. We have such a variety of customers, and you get to witness them get progressively better. Then eventually they go off on their own, and you know you’ve been the ones to help them, it’s amazing.”

Although Sara had been caring for her family members her whole life, she was a little apprehensive about her new role, and the policies and procedures that need to be in place with professional caring. However, she need not have worried, she said: The training was phenomenal. I was so impressed, it was amazing, what ECL offer is unbelievable. You do your initial training, then an induction in the office and following that you do your e-learning and your care certificate. 

“They give you time to do all the training and it’s all paid. All the policies and procedures were explained. There was no such thing as a ‘silly question’, everyone was so open and friendly. I felt so confident at the end of that training.”

Sara’s been with ECL for three months now and loved her new role so much she is already planning her progression. She said: “There is so much career progression opportunity within ECL that other companies don't have. You just need to talk to your manager about it, and they’ll help you achieve your goals. I’ve already got my sights on being a Trusted Assessor, but for right now I’m so happy and settled with what I’m doing.

“The compensation is pretty good, too we get 45p a mile and that covers the wear and tear of your car and your petrol. I did research other care companies before I went with ECL and ECL pay by far the best rate, their standard rate Monday to Friday and the weekend rate is phenomenal. Your bank holiday rate everywhere else is roughly £2 less an hour than ECL. I can’t give you any negatives, I wish I’d done it 20 years ago!

“If I had to pick one best thing about the job, I think it is the customers… I love being around them, I love the fact we can enable them to live in their own homes, and we can give them a better chance of recovery. Also, I wouldn't be where I am now without every single member of my Southwest branch, they are all exceptional. I love the customers. I love the people I work with… there's nothing I don't like.

“If you’re thinking about applying for a role with ECL go for it and you won't regret it. ECL is by far the best company I've ever worked for. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Go for it, do it, try it, you'll succeed”

To find your dream role with ECL visit ecl.org/careers or call 03330 135 438.